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I am a Canadian who set up a checking account with RBC Bank in the USA. I was maintaining a $700 balance as required to avoid service charges. I wasn't using the account, so apparently it became inactive and they started taking a fee of $10 per month. I received no warning that the account was about to become inactive. In fact, they had stopped sending me statements a couple of months before, apparently because the post office had returned one statement to them. This apparently caused them to stop sending me any mail at all. I feel that they should still have been required to attempt to contact me before starting to charge inactivity fees. It's not that I can't afford to lose $20, its the principal of the thing. I feel that they have acted in a negligent manner and have no right to have taken the inactivity fee without sending me notification.
Most financial institutions are starting these surprise costs. You just have to be diligent, polite, and have your info.
As to contacting bank about receiving statements - when you check some accounts, if you don't "opt out", you are automatically changed to e-statements even if you click Not Now, Later, etc. I don't have time to check all e-mails every day, shouldn't have to. Plus, update accounts ~3 months, some give you 30 days, some 90 days, etc., there is no universal practice. The "big banks" are the worst, ie, BOA, RBC, Wachovia.
Also, I have received "new info" from financial institutions. These things are 8-15 pages long, small print, in legalese language, ie, long and difficult to read. So how is the consumer supposed to keep informed of everything? The customer doesn't always know that there have been major changes. Whatever happened to if you are a long time customer, you get help? Customer service is at 35% of what it used to be. FACT: if you have an account, you are paying their salaries.
As for the correct address argument - that is such a weak argument. In 35 yrs of having bank accounts, etc. through moving 11 times, not once have they not had my correct address. My address has been altered (reversed last 2 numbers of zip code, did not receive bill - they got info from my driver's license). However, there have been times my neighbor has gotten my mail.
Bottom Line: Customer Service needs to step up and realize that long time customers are worth keeping - the customer also needs to realize they need to be polite - even if